مُصابُ بَني الدُنيا عَظيمٌ بِأَدهَمِ
وَأَعظَمُ مِنهُ حَيرَةُ الشِعرِ في فَمي
The calamity that befell Bani al-Dunya is immense for Adham
Yet greater than it is the confusion of poetry in my mouth
أَأَنطُقُ وَالأَنباءُ تَترى بِطَيِّبٍ
وَأَسكُتُ وَالأَنباءُ تَترى بِمُؤلِمِ
Shall I speak as good news arrives
Or keep silent as painful news arrives
أَتَيتُ بِغالٍ في الثَناءِ مُنَضَّدٍ
فَمَن لي بِغالٍ في الرِثاءِ مُنَظَّمِ
I came with effusive praise in verse
So who will give me apt elegy in rhyme
عَسى الشِعرُ أَن يَجزي جَريئاً لِفَقدِهِ
بَكى التُركُ وَاليونانُ بِالدَمعِ وَالدَمِ
May poetry reward the audacity of this loss
The Turks and Greeks cried with tears and blood
وَكَم مِن شُجاعٍ في العِداةِ مُكَرَّمٍ
وَكَم مِن جَبانٍ في اللِداتِ مُذَمَّمِ
So many honored among the enemies
So many disgraced among the cowardly
وَهَل نافِعٌ جَريُ القَوافي لِغايَةٍ
وَقَد فَتَكَت دُهمُ المَنايا بِأَدهَمِ
Can the flow of rhyming words serve any purpose
When the arrows of death have struck Adham
رَمَت فَأَصابَت خَيرَ رامٍ بِها العِدى
وَما السَهمُ إِلّا لِلقَضاءِ المُحَتَّمِ
They aimed and hit the best archer among them, the destined arrow
A young man who was India’s sword in a man’s image
فَتىً كانَ سَيفَ الهِندِ في صورَةِ اِمرِئٍ
وَكانَ فَتى الفِتيانِ في مَسكِ ضَيغَمِ
He was the epitome of young men with Musk Dhigam
His jealous rivals reproached his glory
لَحاهُ عَلى الإِقدامِ حُسّادُ مَجدِهِ
وَما خُلِقَ الإِقبالُ إِلّا لِمُقدِمِ
Triumph was created but for the audacious
Shaker of generations, vanquisher of fortresses
مُزَعزَعُ أَجيالٍ وَغاشي مَعاقِلٍ
وَقائِدُ جَرّارٍ وَمُزجي عَرمرَمِ
Leader of pulling ships, mixer of Rarmram
Ask Milan and the cliffs under it
سَلوا عَنهُ ميلونا وَما في شِعابِهِ
وَفي ذِروَتَيهِ مِن نُسورٍ وَأَعظُمِ
And the eagles and vultures on its peaks
Nights when religion was not held in one fist
لَيالِيَ باتَ الدينُ في غَيرِ قَبضَةٍ
وَزُلزِلَ في إيمانِهِ كُلُّ مُسلِمِ
And every Muslim’s faith was shaken
Some said the last of eras of the caliph
وَقالَ أُناسٌ آخِرُ العَهدِ بِالمَلا
وَهَمَّت ظُنونٌ بِالتُراثِ المُقَسَّمِ
And doubts crept regarding divvied inheritance
So he rose like a star for Islam and the kingdom
فَأَطلَعَ لِلإِسلامِ وَالمُلكِ كَوكَباً
مِنَ النَصرِ في داجٍ مِنَ الشَكِّ مُظلِمِ
A victory in deep darkness full of doubt
And we boasted to East and West of might
وَرُحنا نُباهي الشَرقَ وَالغَربَ عِزَّةً
وَكُنّا حَديثَ الشامِتِ المُتَرَحِّمِ
When we were the talk of gloating adversaries
Glories recounted of Adham are history’s pride
مَفاخِرُ لِلتاريخِ تُحصى لِأَدهَمٍ
وَمَن يُقرِضِ التاريخَ يَربَح وَيَغنَمِ
He who lends history profits and gains
O you who pray, did Al-Safa don black
أَلا أَيُّها الساعونَ هَل لَبِسَ الصَفا
سَواداً وَقَد غَصَّ الوُرودُ بِزَمزَمِ
When it was blooming with Zamzam’s roses?
Did pilgrims come to lament Khaled
وَهَل أَقبَلَ الرُكبانُ يَنعونَ خالِداً
إِلى كُلِّ رامٍ بِالجِمارِ وَمُحرِمِ
To every intending pilgrim in ihram?
In what mosques are elegies for him recited
وَهَل مَسجِدٌ تَتلونَ فيهِ رِثاءَهُ
فَكَم قَد تَلَوتُم مَدحَهُ بِالتَرَنُّمِ
When so many recite his praises in chanting?
When he plunged into wars and wilds
وَكانَ إِذا خاضَ الأَسِنَّةَ وَالظُبى
تَنَحَّت إِلى أَن يَعبُرَ الفارِسُ الكَمي
All deferred until the valiant knight passed
He who gets respite in this lowly life
وَمَن يُعطَ في هَذي الدَنِيَّةِ فُسحَةً
يُعَمَّر وَإِن لاقى الحُروبَ وَيَسلَمِ
Lives long even if he meets wars and survives
Ali, father of Az-Zahra, vanquisher of turmoil
عَلِيٌّ أَبو الزَهراءِ داهِيَةُ الوَغى
دَهاهُ بِبابِ الدارِ سَيفُ اِبنِ مُلجَمِ
His sword at the house door was struck by Ibn Muljam
O Furaq, laugh and cry with pride and agony
فَروقُ اِضحَكي وَاِبكي فَخاراً وَلَوعَةً
وَقومي إِلى نَعشِ الفَقيدِ المُعَظَّمِ
And rise to the bier of the most venerated departed
Like a martyr's mother who received news of him
كَأُمِّ شَهيدٍ قَد أَتاها نَعيُّهُ
فَخَفَّت لَهُ بَينَ البُكا وَالتَبَسُّمِ
So she wavered between weeping and smiling
Prepare him a place between sultans
وَخُطّي لَهُ بَينَ السَلاطينِ مَضجَعاً
وَقَبراً بِجَنبِ الفاتِحِ المُتَقَدِّمِ
A grave next to the leading conqueror
You were miserly to him in life with procession
بَخِلتِ عَلَيهِ في الحَياةِ بِمَوكِبٍ
فَتوبي إِلَيهِ في المَماتِ بِمَأتَمِ
So make amends to him in death with mourning gathering
O disease, how unfair that you shook his chest
وَيا داءُ ما أَنصَفتَ إِذ رُعتَ صَدرَهُ
وَقَد كانَ فيهِ المُلكُ إِن ريعَ يَحتَمي
When the kingdom, if shaking, would cling to him
O you walking around his deathbed
وَيا أَيُّها الماشونَ حَولَ سَريرِهِ
أَحَطتُم بِتاريخٍ فَصيحِ التَكَلُّمِ
You have surrounded the eloquent history teller
O Egypt, who bade farewell to the highest pillar
وَيا مِصرُ مَن شَيَّعتِ أَعلى هَمامَةٍ
وَأَثبَتُ قَلباً مِن رَواسي المُقَطَّمِ
And firmest heart of firmly rooted pillars
O people, such a peerless model remains
وَيا قَومُ هَذا مَن يُقامُ لِمِثلِهِ
مِثالٌ لِباغي قُدوَةٍ مُتَعَلِّمِ
An ideal for an ambitious learner
O sea, you know the worth of who you carry
وَيا بَحرُ تَدري قَدرَ مَن أَنتَ حامِلٌ
وَيا أَرضُ صونيهِ وَيا رَبّي اِرحَمِ
O land, protect him, O Lord, have mercy
